Does Your Brand Have a Relatable Identity?

Building a consistent brand identity that can have a positive impact on at least ten percent of your audience can be the difference between business success and failure.

Creating products that attract the attention of consumers is one of the biggest hurdles that a business faces, but simply getting to this step is not enough to ensure success. Instead, you also have to take the time to create a brand image that your customers can relate to.

After all, everyone likes to feel like they are supporting a brand that meets their needs and moral code. However, several recent controversies have showcased the fact that one of the best ways to build and maintain a widely successful brand is to shy away from making any bold statements about sensitive social topics.

How Can I Build Brand Identity?

Every aspect of your branding efforts will either help or hinder your company's goal of selling enough products to become profitable. For example, if you launch an advertising campaign that utilizes vague imagery, it is likely that consumers will be confused, and this could have a negative impact on your sales figures.

Therefore, it makes the most sense to build all of your advertising campaigns around scenes and images that make it easy for consumers to connect with your product. In other words, if you are a pasta manufacturer, you should definitely include pasta in your advertising. However, you should also take steps to ensure that your ads are not carbon copies of all of the other pasta ads that you have previously seen.

How can a Branding Specialist Help?

Many companies believe that they can handle their own branding efforts because they have such an intimate working knowledge of their products. Although having this level of awareness is certainly beneficial when it comes to laying the groundwork for your brand's identity, it is still important to consider working with a specialist while building brand equity.

After all, these professionals have the necessary experience to take your vision for your brand and enhance it to capture a larger share of the market. Keep in mind that building a solid brand that consumers can relate to is not an easy task.

One misstep in your advertising, packaging or other marketing materials can make the difference between a lucrative year and barely breaking even. Therefore, many companies enlist the assistance of a branding specialist to ensure that the entire process of creating a relatable identity is handled properly.

Correcting Controversial Issues

Another important aspect of a branding specialist is that they can help you reinvent your brand after a controversial issue. Recent studies indicate that most consumers who are uncertain where they stand with a particular product or company can be swayed in either direction by a mere 10 percent of their social network.

Because of this, any company that experiences controversy should consider taking corrective action with a branding specialist to help change their company's public persona. After all, if you can get 10 percent of the marketplace to move past the controversy and embrace your new brand identity, it should be relatively easy to end up in a strong position with a lot of consumer support.

Building a relatable identity requires your company to use imagery that your consumers will instantly connect with. Additionally, your business will need to make a decision about whether or not to appeal directly to specific groups of people by taking a stand about hot button social topics.

Regardless of the way that you want your company to be perceived, you can easily enhance your brand's level of awareness by utilizing a professional branding specialist.

Image Credit: CC BY-SA 2.0 (Flickr)/maebmij

Jamica Bell is a freelance writer and entrepreneur. Like most business owners, her ultimate goal is to build brand equity while drawing new customers.